Components of earth-boring tools may be produced primarily by an initial formation process, followed by subsequent subtractive and occasionally additive manufacturing processes. For example, a body of an earth-boring tool may be cast or sintered, and subsequent machining may remove material from the body to meet manufacturing tolerances, cutting elements may be brazed to the body, and hardfacing may be selectively applied to surfaces of the body.
3D printing, which is generally accomplished via layer-by-layer addition of material to form an object, is frequently used in rapid prototyping, usually with a material not suitable for use with earth-boring tools, such as, for example, plastic, wax, or porous metal. However, 3D printing has been proposed for use in forming earth-boring tools, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,280, issued Jul. 18, 1995, to Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 6,200,514, issued Mar. 13, 2001, to Meister, and 7,776,256, issued Aug. 17, 2010, to Smith et al., each of which is assigned to the assignee of the present application and the disclosure of each of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference. As disclosed, however, these 3D printing process produced a porous body of mutually bonded particles of metal material requiring, among other subsequent acts, infiltration with a molten metal infiltrant material and finish machining to produce a finished part, such as for example, a drill bit body.
Further, conventional 3D printing apparatus using, for example, laser melting, do not enable production of a finished product, or a substantially finished product.